LAFCU Invites Kids and Families to Join in Reading About Baseball with Lansing Lugnuts

LANSING, Mich. — LAFCU invites kids and their families to join the Lansing Lugnuts in reading fascinating stories about baseball at LAFCU’s Listen & Learn: Baseball with the Lansing Lugnuts, Sunday, Sept. 11.

The Michigan credit union is partnering with the Lugnuts and Quality Dairy to encourage kids aged 12 and under to read.

The event includes a Q&A session and giveaways. It starts at 12:15 p.m., before the Lugnuts face the Dayton Dragons. Tickets to the game are required for admission.

“Celebrating reading at the ballpark may be unexpected, but it’s a great way to show kids that reading is fun and that it can expand one’s world,” said Kelli Ellsworth Etchison, LAFCU chief marketing officer and chief diversity officer. “The broad reach of baseball facts in this book is sure to capture the attention of even non-sports enthusiasts.

“We are honored that the Lansing Lugnuts and Quality Dairy share our passion for supporting education as a way to strengthen our community.”

Lansing Lugnuts broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and select players will read excerpts of “WHO GOT GAME? BASEBALL Amazing But True Stories!” written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by John John Bajet. The Q&A session will be about the book and baseball. QD will provide a giveaway for the kids, and attendees have a chance to win 2023 Lansing Lugnuts tickets and copies of the 176-page featured children’s book.

Barnes wrote the book to shine light on little-known pillars in baseball, which he does through 45 stories about unique records, personalities and anecdotes rarely mentioned in popular baseball lore.

The stories include records for the longest professional game — 8 hours, 25 minutes — and the player hit by the most pitches in one season — 51. Among other anecdotes, the book reveals the player who hit more home runs than Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds, the 17-year-old girl who struck out Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and the four African Americans who integrated white teams decades before Jackie Robinson.

“In baseball, practice makes perfect,” said Tyler Parsons, Lansing Lugnuts general manager. “The same is true about reading. The more your read, the more you learn and the greater your chances of success.

“The book is a home-run read for the entire family. There’s even a Lansing connection in it.”

Parsons noted that families will want to come early and stay late, as Sept. 11 is also Capital City Market Kids Day where kids are invited to run the bases after the game, and there is a soft baseball giveaway.

“WHO GOT GAME?” is the first non-fiction work by the award-winning author. Barnes’ has earned Newbery, Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Author honors, the 2018 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award, and in 2020 received a second Kirkus Prize for Young Readers award — the first author to do so.

Supporting the credit union philosophy of “People Helping People,” LAFCU created the Listen & Learn Program in response to the pandemic to provide a fun, new option for kids up to age 12 to learn, listen, read and interact. More information is at www.lafcu.com/read.

In addition to live events, the LAFCU Listen & Learn Program offers recorded readings of children’s books on the credit union’s YouTube channel, http://bit.ly/LAFCU-L-L, and by phone, 517.622.6789. Volunteer readers are encouraged to sign up at https://bit.ly/LAFCUVolunteers.

The Lansing Lugnuts are the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Featured in USA Today and on CNN for their successes, the Lugnuts make their home at Jackson Field in Lansing. More information is at www.lansinglugnuts.com.